Chariot & Croix
by Tania Hylian
Summary: Akko & Diana are in their way to accomplish their dream inspired by the famous singer Chariot du Nord. They're aid by Ursula, who knows a lot of people in the music industry, and Croix, who uses artificial intelligences to write songs. However, one day Croix reveals Ursula's true identity, she has no choice but to explain what happened many years ago. Carol & Tuesday AU. Charoix.


**A/N: So, uh, I recently became obsessed with Carol & Tuesday, and decided I needed to write a Charoix one-shot set on that universe and based on the characters. If you have actually watched that anime, Akko is basically Carol, Diana is a combination between Tuesday and Angela, Croix is a combination between Tao and Gus, and Ursula is a combination between Flora and Gus. I hope you like it!**

* * *

**Chariot & Croix.**

"So… you really _are_ Chariot, huh?" Akko asked, skeptically eyeing her mentor. She looked older compared to the famous musician, but she also had long dark blue hair, instead of short bright red, glasses, and her overall attitude was… _shy_. And meek. Not very impressive, really. She had expected a lot more from the woman that inspired her dream.

"Akko!" Diana chastised her. Not that she wasn't disappointed as well, but her own mentor, Croix, had already confirmed it was really Chariot du Nord, the famous singer. And rumor was Chariot and Croix had known each other at the time, so it wasn't that surprising they'd recognized each other. Why Chariot had changed her name and gone into hiding was still a mystery though, one that she was just as eager as Akko to solve. After all, Chariot was also the reason she herself got into the music industry.

"It's alright." Chariot said, giving Diana a sad smile. "I already know I don't look much like my old self. That's the point of having a secret identity after all." She tried to joke, but the girls remained unamused, knowing something was off.

"But… _why_? Why even have a secret identity? You were the best singer Mars has ever seen!" Akko argued. "How did you end up… like _this_?

"Do you have to be so rude about it?" Diana chastised her again but ended up being promptly ignored when Chariot replied.

"It's a long story. I doubt you want to hear it." She said sheepishly.

"You can't just leave us like this!" Akko retorted, pouting.

"They deserve to know, Chariot." Croix interfered, although she'd remained silent up until that moment. Despite being the one to accidentally reveal Chariot's identity, she hadn't shown any interest in talking to the girls beyond that.

"I-I… yeah. I guess you're right." She deflated. "It is true I owe you _all_ an explanation, but I just… I don't know where to start." She finished, looking up at Croix with pleading eyes, as if asking for help.

"I could tell them the beginning, if you want. But you'll have to tell us the end." She ended up saying. Chariot only gave her a court nod in response before turning to look at the ground, like she didn't want to see the girls' reaction to the story Croix was about to tell.

"Alright." Croix said, turning to address the girls who were now silent and very attentive. "Okay… what you first need to know is that I came here to Mars at the age of twenty, hoping to become a great scientist; to develop technology like no other, but… dreams are not always that easy, and to handle the stress and failure I often found myself drinking until I passed out."

* * *

It was just another Friday night. I had spent all day working on an artificial intelligence of my own, hoping I'd make it able to understand and even express human emotions, but nothing worked, and the money I got from repairing electronic devices wasn't enough to finance my experiments anymore. I was hoping a few drinks would take away my worries, and my pain, but what I found… what I found changed my life completely.

First I heard her voice. It was the voice of an angel, sorry for sounding too cliché, but… I don't even know how to describe it. I had heard that song a thousand times already, interpreted by many different artists, but it never evoked on me the same feelings as that night, in that dark, ugly bar, interpreted by a half-naked woman.

("You don't have to tell them that, Croix!")

("What? That it was a strip club?")

("Yes!")

("Sorry.")

Anyways, it was as if her voice entered my body and reached my heart, perfectly transmitting the joy the lyrics of the song implied. It was… an unreal experience.

I had never been good at emotions; that's why I studied them and created artificial intelligences to interpret them for me. But in that moment all was suddenly clear. And I knew I needed to talk to that woman.

I went backstage once her performance ended, and spoke to her, asking why she was in that shithole with all the talent she got. She explained she was a refugee from Earth, that her parents had died shortly after arriving to Mars, unable to pay for medical treatment when they were victims of a rare sickness inexistent on Earth; that she'd been alone ever since, struggling to even pay for a place to live.

I offered her food and a place to stay. My only condition? I had gotten an idea for a new A.I.; one that could compose original songs. If I managed to make it, I wanted her to give those songs a voice.

Chariot accepted, of course, and we lived together for quite some time. She even tried helping around the house, but she was more harm than aid, to be honest.

("You don't have to tell them that either!")

("Why? It's the truth.")

Well, what matters is that she became my muse, and with her help I was able to develop the first A.I. capable of composing songs just by analyzing the singer's actions and patterns of speech, translating those into lyrics the singer could identify themselves with.

That's how Chariot and I developed our first song, and then our first album, and earned nearly a million subscribers in MarsTube. We quickly started making a lot of money from our songs, and eventually got contacted by people high up in the music industry, who offered Chariot spots on festivals, and other important events. Eventually, Chariot's name was well-known around Mars… but you see, that was the problem. It was _only_ Chariot's name.

She said that, given all the famous songs at the time were composed by humans, people would think she was cheating and start criticizing her if she revealed she was using an A. I. And I had to concede she was probably right. But I thought she'd finally admit what we were doing once she became famous, or when she signed a multi-million dollar contract with a producer that would sponsor her and distribute her albums. Or when the first A.I. capable of inventing songs (though years inferior to mine) was announced and sold. But… she didn't want to risk a thing. And she was willing to sacrifice my own career as a scientist and inventor to accomplish her own. Or at least, that's how it felt.

Eventually, I got tired of being ignored and was finally able to get a scholarship to study at the Ares University, researching human emotions like I'd originally planned… but I did that by betraying Chariot and reveling the A.I. I'd invented. Of course, I never said I was the one who composed her songs, but there were more than a few rumors. And, like I expected, she didn't take it very well.

She said she understood why I'd done it, but that she felt she couldn't trust me anymore. She… she also revealed the producer had bought another A.I., not as good as mine, but capable of getting the job done. Basically, she said she didn't need me anymore, and that she didn't want to see me ever again… and then she left. I never tried to contact her after that.

The rest… you probably know. She kept singing, she kept getting more and more famous thanks to all the publicity, even if her new songs weren't as good as before, which earned her a lot of criticism. Until one day she simply stopped singing all together, and then she just… vanished, and no one knew what had been of her. Until now.

* * *

Croix finished her story looking intently at Chariot, as if asking her to continue the story, to complete the missing parts. And, although the blue-haired woman looked ashamed and sad, she seemed to understand what was being asked of her and slowly rested her eyes on the other three people in the room as she prepared herself to say something she never thought she'd have to share.

"What you all heard is true." She sighed. "Right down to me being selfish and too bent on fame and money to realize what I was doing to my love."

"Your… _love_?" Akko raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, right. I forgot to mention that. We were girlfriends, no big deal." Croix intervened.

"Huh." The brunette blinked. That made a lot of sense actually.

"I-I… yes. Indeed." Chariot confirmed. "Anyways, after Croix left I thought about apologizing, about… about searching for her and asking her to come back. But I thought that'd be unfair for both of us and instead I did nothing." She sighed.

"What I failed to realize at the time was that Croix was my only real friend. The only person who actually cared about _me_, not about my fame or money. I didn't realize she was my anchor to the real world; the hand that was stopping me from falling into the abyss." She paused, letting out a shuddering sob. "And by the time I realized that, it was too late."

"It all just became too much for me. The critics, the hypocritical backstabbing "friends" I had, the pressure to sing, to keep churning out new albums no matter if I was feeling depressed… and most of all, the crushing feeling of loneliness that was present since the day Croix left." She sobed as tears started falling from her eyes. "I'm not proud of what I did to be able to survive to all of that. From getting into drugs and alcohol t-to… to sleeping with people who promised to help me in exchange."

"Chariot." Croix grasped her hand and Chariot squeezed hard, desperately trying to keep it together long enough to finish.

"But at the end of the day, none of that mattered. None of that helped me! I was fired as soon as I was too damaged to keep singing. I was forgotten. I went back to where it all begun; alone, living in a shithole at the outskirts of town just hoping I could die already!"

"No, Chariot don't say that." Croix said in a soothing tone as she went to hold her tightly. Chariot, on her part, broke down crying at the contact, letting out heartbreaking sounds that made Croix want to cry herself, while Akko and Diana just exchanged worried looks for their idol. When they'd asked to hear her story, they certainly hadn't expected it to end like _this_.

"Chariot, I'm sorry." Croix said, pulling her even closer, like she didn't want to ever let go.

"It wasn't your fault." She managed to say between sobs. "It was me who pushed you away, wh-who was w-willing to sacrifice your own career in order to accomplish my own." Croix winced when she heard her own harsh words spoken by Chariot.

"But that wasn't your intention, was it? You were just young and naïve, and I don't blame you for that."

"You should." She whimpered.

"Chariot listen, all I wanted was to hear you sing. Your songs brought me, and millions of people, _joy_. Including these two wonderful girls." She separated enough from Chariot to look at Akko and Diana, who were still awkwardly watching the scene, not sure if they should have just left silently. "Look at them, Chariot. If it wasn't for you, they wouldn't be here, and neither would I."

"But Croix…" She started, but was quickly cut off by her ex-girlfriend.

"Shh, I'm not letting you kick yourself over what happened, you hear me? You were the most amazing singer Mars has ever seen, with or without my songs."

Chariot wanted to protest once more, but when she stared at Croix's eyes she saw such intensity in them, conviction, and most of all… devotion. True, deep devotion. For… her? It had been such a long time since she saw so many sincere emotions in a person's eyes, much less directed towards her. She couldn't believe it was real. She couldn't stop her heart from beating loudly inside her chest, until she thought it might burst out… and she also couldn't help it when she reached towards Croix and pressed their lips together.

"Chariot." Croix sighed against her mouth, quickly pulling her closer by her waist. "I promise I'm never letting you go again. I won't let you fall back into the abyss."

"I promise too." She said between kisses. "No matter what happens, I will remain loyal to you."

Meanwhile, the two teenagers observed awkwardly as the adults kissed in front of them.

"So… should we kiss too, or…?" Akko tried to joke, letting out an awkward laugh.

"Akko!" Diana chastised her.

"What? This is suddenly feeling more like a double date than a meeting to discuss our first duet."

Diana could only sigh at that answer.

"I feel like we're invading their privacy." She ended up saying. "Come on, let's go outside."

* * *

"Honestly, I'm quite surprised Chariot's songs were composed by an A.I. Croix is truly a genius, to develop an A.I. capable of putting so much emotional depth into the lyrics years before anything else." The blonde said once they were no longer on the living room, instead choosing to go look at the stars and enjoy the night's fresh air from a small balcony.

"Yeah… I'm a little disappointed to be honest. Like, the only reason I compose my own songs instead of using an A.I. is because I thought Chariot did so too."

"And because you didn't have money to even _rent_ an A.I." Diana reminded her.

"Yeah, well… that too." She admitted sheepishly.

"But I _do_ have an A.I., and you have your innate talent for composing songs, and I have no doubt that together we can be even greater than Chariot."

"You really think so?!" Akko gasped, stars shining on her eyes.

"Yes, of course." She smiled fondly at her brunette companion. She absolutely adored the way she got excited when talking about making music.

"We'll be Akko & Diana! The greatest duo ever seen in Mars or Earth!"

"Uh… don't you think you're exaggerating a little?"

"Nope!"

"Right."

* * *

**A/N: Well, that was more self-indulgent than usual, but oh well. If for some reason you liked it nonetheless, please leave a review/favorite/follow to support my fics, I'd really appreciate it. And thank you for reading! Stay tuned for more Charoix :)**

**Thanks to my beta reader moonwatcher13.**


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